Lando Norris says McLaren's remarkable progress this season has put the team the closest it's ever been in the past five years to winning in F1.
Last winter, when McLaren rolled out its 2023 contender, team boss Andrea Stella admitted that the development of its launch-spec MCL60 had fallen short of the outfit's development goals, a fact confirmed by the car's subdued performance in pre-season testing.
Norris was subsequently critical early on of the MCL60 lack of downforce that weighed on its performance from the outset, with McLaren scoring points in only three of the season's first eight races.
However, team papaya enjoyed a gradual turnaround from Austria in early July when McLaren introduced the first upgrades resulting from the team's multi-stage development program.
For Norris, who scored successive podium at Silverstone and at the Hungaroring, the MCL60's significant step forward and the strong results this has yielded are an impressive feat.
"We would've been happy with half the step we've done," said Norris in an interview published on the McLaren website.
"To make as big of a step as we have, which I would say is one of the biggest steps taken by any team in the middle of the season, has impressed me the most.
"We want to continue with the improvements that we’ve made so far, maximise our opportunities and make a couple fewer mistakes from both my side and the team’s.
"Sometimes, we have maybe made a couple of mistakes, just a little bit, so it is about ironing them out and having some more perfect weekends."
©McLaren
Since his F1 debut in 2019, Norris' track record includes one pole position and eight podiums. But the Briton has yet to add a race win in F1 to his CV, although he came close to achieving glory in Russia in 2021.
But Norris now feels that he is closer than ever to stepping on to the top step of the podium on a Sunday.
"It's made me feel a lot more confident that we've been able to continue in a much better way than we have in the past," he added.
"Whereas, in the past there were always times when the hopes were raised, but we didn’t continue on some of the improvements we made.
"I would say we're also the closest we've been ever over the last five years. So, if there's any time to believe we're getting closer to winning races, it's now."
But with a rising of the stakes comes increased pressure on both team and driver to deliver the goods. So how has McLaren dealt with its rising prospects?
"It's a different mentality because you're fighting for much higher positions," Norris explained.
"I think you have to change your mentality if you’re fighting for a podium or a top five. It's definitely tougher to make the correct decisions when you're in that position.
"So, it's changed a little bit for me and the team, but they've dealt with it very well in terms of pit-stops and things like that. We've actually done some of our best work when we're under pressure."
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